What's Stolen Isn't Always Lost
by niffizzle
Summary: It's been two years since Draco up and left her with no notice, and two years since she's seen him last. But when Draco returns to London, Harry urges Hermione to get drinks with them. She isn't thrilled at the prospect, but Draco has something to tell her when she eventually gives in.


"Malfoy's going to be here this weekend."

Hermione's head jolted up, her toast tumbling out of her hands and onto the plate. " _What?_ " This was probably the _last_ thing she expected to come out of his mouth this morning.

Harry aimlessly pushed around the cereal in his bowl. "Uh, yeah. He's got some last minute, uh, business in town."

Hermione huffed as she snatched up her toast and tore off another bite. She did her best not to show how much the mere thought of Draco irked her, so she picked up the morning _Prophet_ and tried to focus on it, failing miserably.

"We're grabbing drinks Friday night," Harry continued. "You should come."

Hermione slammed the paper down, causing the items on top of the table to rattle. "If he wants me there, then he should contact me directly instead of me having to hear about it from _you._ "

She was fully aware that she was taking her anger out on Harry when he was just the messenger, but she was finding it hard to hide her dismay. It wasn't as if Draco had an obligation to tell her when he was in town. They hadn't been together, or even communicated _once_ , in two years. But still, she'd be lying if she didn't say it stung to find out this way.

She tried to resume reading the newspaper, but it was no use. Her mind was already poisoned with the thought of Draco being in London in a few days. She threw her copy of the _Prophet_ onto their table, giving up on it for the time being, and moved to the sink, turning on the faucet, angrily scrubbing the food remnants off her plate.

"The plate didn't do anything to offend you," Harry commented, but Hermione ignored it. "C'mon, Hermione," Harry continued to push. "I know things are strained between you and Malfoy -"

" _Strained_?" Hermione snapped, letting the plate slip out of her hands and crash into the sink below. She shoved the water off and glared at Harry, ready to go off on him, but he raised an eyebrow at her, prompting her to stop. "Fine," she conceded. 'I won't get into it."

Harry released a heavy sigh. "I told you. It was a tough decision. We, uh… He was the best person for the job."

Hermione huffed again and stormed out of the kitchen, heading down the hall to her room, not wanting to deal with this any further for the time being.

"For what it's worth, I know he'd like to see you!" he shouted after her.

That was the problem. Despite everything, part of her wanted to see him too.

.

Hermione paced back and forth in front of the Leaky Cauldron. She'd already been there for five minutes, still contemplating whether or not she should go inside.

At first, she had settled on not seeing him. Why open old wounds? After sleeping on it, she considered that perhaps she should stop by. A few minutes wouldn't be so terrible, and she could prove how completely and totally fine she was without him. Later that day, she resolved to ignore the fact that he was in town entirely. If he didn't personally tell her, then he clearly didn't actually want to see her. By Friday afternoon, she ripped up the note that his owl had delivered. Telling her the day of didn't count!

Yet her feet had stopped in front of the familiar pub when she had passed it on her way home from work. Through the window, she could see Harry and Draco seated at one of the booths, both of them with a pint in hand. _Dammit_. He looked better than she remembered. He and Harry were smiling about something in the _Evening Prophet_ , and that was her breaking point. She flung open the door and marched inside.

The Leaky Cauldron was busy, which was typical for a Friday evening, so she was able to parade up to their table without them noticing. Hermione folded her arms across her chest and stood poised at the head of the table, glaring at Draco.

Within seconds, the men's conversation paused, and he set down his half empty glass and slowly looked her over, lingering his gaze for only a half-second before he turned back to Harry. "Told you she couldn't resist showing up," Draco said with a smirk, taking another leisurely sip of his beer.

Her lips pressed together, restraining from the temptation to immediately snap back at him for his presumptuous remark. Of course he was being a pompous prick about her coming! She shouldn't have bothered! She should storm out right now, not give him the decency of her _staying_. But her feet remained planted before him, because it was still the first words she had heard him say in two years.

Her eyes didn't leave his direction. It was infuriating. He carried himself with the same smug demeanour he always had since the first day at Hogwarts, only now it came off more as assured confidence than simple arrogance. The past two years had clearly been kind to him, which didn't make seeing him any easier. Her teeth clenched together, remembering how they had ended it. How _he_ had ended it.

He hadn't even consulted her before he accepted the job. It was as if one day, their relationship no longer meant anything to him, and he could easily leave it all behind so that he could head up a new training program for the Auror department in Germany. At first she had been hurt, but that quickly turned to rage when he said that he didn't want to "bother" with long distance. They had spent the whole night arguing, and by daybreak, she was alone in their flat. Hermione had cried herself to sleep every night the first week he was gone until Harry invited her to move in with him so she could carry on with her life. A fresh start.

And she had been doing perfectly _fine_ without him! But seeing him again...

Harry downed the rest of his drink and scooted off the bench. "I'm getting another round," he announced. "You want something, Hermione?" When Hermione didn't respond, still too preoccupied with glaring at Draco, Harry put a hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, I'm getting you a beer, too." He gave her a reassuring tap on the shoulder and headed to the bar.

Draco took another sip of his drink, and finally turned to her properly, no longer having Harry as an option. He ran his fingers through his hair, and a soft smile lightened his features. He looked at her as only he could, which sent daggers into her heart. He raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to keep standing there, or are you going to join me?"

"Who said I'm staying?"

"Well, Potter is off ordering you a beer, so it'd be rude to leave now."

Hermione's upper lip twitched, bringing her nose into a crinkle. She hated when he had a point. One pint. That's all she would stay for.

She sat down across from Draco, which she immediately regretted. When she was standing, it at least gave the illusion that she somehow had more control over the situation. But now they were face to face, and it was _much_ worse. It was impossible to ignore how broad his shoulders had become, how he looked at her with his sharp grey eyes, and how very much attracted she still was to him. For a fleeting moment, she considered how much a part of her had missed him, but she quickly shoved it away. No, she was most certainly still furious with him!

She needed something, _anything_ , to get her attention away from him, so a beer now sounded _very_ agreeable to her. How much longer was Harry going to take at the bar? She looked back to check on him, but he was still trying to get the barmaid's attention — apparently being The Boy Who Lived didn't get you faster service.

"You did something to your hair."

Hermione's stomach churned when she heard his voice again, still not accustomed to hearing it. Her lips pressed into a thin line, and she looked back at him. "Pardon?"

He leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table. "I _said_ , you did something to your hair."

Hermione instinctively touched her curls. She couldn't remember doing anything drastically different, although she supposed she might have changed shampoos. She shrugged. "I guess things change in two years."

"You haven't."

"And how would you know?" she couldn't help but snarl back. "It's not as if you and I kept in contact."

Draco finished his drink and set the empty glass down on the table. "Perhaps not, but I've gotten my share of stories from Potter."

Hermione's stomach turned over once more. She knew that Draco and Harry still communicated, but she just assumed it was all work related. She wasn't exactly thrilled to hear that they had been talking about her. "Well, if you wanted to hear about my life, then you should have just asked me," she said bluntly.

"It wasn't that simple," Draco snapped.

Hermione scoffed. _Please._ She and Harry lived in the same flat. All he had to do was include a paragraph for her in their correspondence.

"Besides, you made it blatantly clear that you wanted nothing to do with me after -"

"You abandoned me?" she spat.

Draco's lips turned into a scowl. "I didn't abandon you."

"Yes, you did, Draco," she fired back. "One day, everything was fine, and the next day, you were packing your bags."

"I -"

Hermione held up her hand to cut him off. Over at the bar, Harry had finally gotten their drinks, but he was having difficulty carrying the three glasses back to the table. Honestly, it was as if the man forgot he was a wizard and couldn't figure out to just levitate them!

"Save it," she said. And with that, she left Draco alone at the table to help Harry out. He looked relieved as she took her glass and started to drink from it. Beer was far from her preferred choice, but right now, she'd accept anything.

"I shouldn't have come," she grumbled as she lowered her glass. "Of course he's not sorry for what he did!"

Harry let out a deep breath and looked at her. "So I take it he hasn't explained yet?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. As if there was anything he could say to take back what he had done. "No, and I'm not interested in some lame excuse."

Harry seemed to want to say something more on the subject, but she wasn't in the mood. She returned to their table, and he promptly followed. Back at the table, she paused for Harry to enter first. She couldn't afford to sit next to the wall just in case she needed an escape route. Somehow she had the feeling that she'd be leaving before him.

"So, uh, I think there's something Malfoy wants to talk with you about," Harry started off as he handed the third glass to Draco.

Draco quite obviously kicked Harry under the table, and based on the look on Harry's face, it wasn't a gentle tap. "I would actually prefer to simply talk a bit first," he snarled at Harry. "It's been two years. It would be better if we… _caught up_ , before we got into it," he firmly propositioned, raising an eyebrow in Harry's direction, but that didn't seem to settle well with him.

"C'mon, mate. You gotta tell her about Germany."

Just the mention of the country and her stomach tied into a knot, a reminder of why he left. If Draco didn't want to talk about it, then he best believe she was gonna make him.

"I'd _love_ to hear all about it," she retorted, the lack of sincerity dripping from her words. "Is it everything you wished it would be?"

Draco cocked his head at Harry and eyed him as if to tell him _I told you so_ , but Harry motioned his hand, urging him to answer. This didn't seem to thrill Draco, but he still took a few chugs from his beer and then cleared his throat. "It was quite miserable, actually," he begrudgingly confessed.

He appeared uneasy, but she opted to ignore it. "Don't expect my condolences."

"I wasn't planning on it. But -"

"And what's the matter?" she pushed, getting some satisfaction out of his annoyance from her interruption. Served him right. That was only a taste of how he had made her feel. "Do the German Aurors not praise the ground you walk on like you hoped?"

"Are you going to let me speak, Granger, or are you going to keep rambling?" he snarled back, and Hermione lost it.

"Oh!" she near cried. "So I'm _Granger_ again, huh? Good, because you lost the right to call me by my first name after you treated me like a complete stranger these past two years!"

Draco banged his hands against the table and pushed himself up. "I had to, dammit! And if you'd stop for just two minutes, you'd understand why!"

"Oh, please! I'd like to see you try!"

Draco released a frustrated groan and yanked the _Evening Prophet_ from off the bench beside him. He slammed it face up in front of her.

"And what do you expect me to do with this?" Hermione fumed without even looking at the newspaper.

"Just read it!"

"And what if I don't want to?"

"Then I'll read it aloud _to_ you."

His chest puffed up and down as he breathed heavily, both of them glaring at each other as if testing which one would break first. A few people in the Leaky Cauldron had started to stare at them, and a couple were pointing to their own editions of the _Prophet_.

Hermione broke her eye contact with Draco just long enough to glance down and recognize an old picture of herself on the front page. But it wasn't just her in the image - it was her and Draco together at a Ministry event from just before they had broken up. Across the top of the paper was printed in bold letters, " _YEARS LONG DEATH THREAT SCANDAL FINALLY THWARTED."_

She looked back up at Draco, a million questions already running through her mind. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sat back down. "Just read it," he growled.

Hermione slowly returned to the bench and stretched the paper out in front of her and started to read.

 _It seems as if our war heroes (and villain) had their own private war that was carefully kept under wraps! Most can't forget the unexpected break-up between Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy, but today the_ Prophet _can finally reveal the shocking drama that led to their supposed separation._

 _Harry Potter, better known as the Chosen One and current Head of the Auror Office, shared with the_ Prophet _exclusively that two years ago, Draco Malfoy, repentant Death Eater and well-known pure-blood, received multiple anonymous death threats against his then girlfriend, war heroine and proud Muggle-born, Hermione Granger. While Mr. Potter refused to divulge all of the juicy contents of the notes, the message was clear: Either Mr. Malfoy ended all relations with Ms. Granger or the consequences would be fatal._

 _All too familiar with coming to the rescue, Mr. Potter, along with the rest of his department, immediately took on the fellow Auror's case in pursuit of the source. As an added precaution, Mr. Malfoy left the country on an extended assignment to prevent any further threats until the investigation was complete and the culprit was in custody."_

Hermione had to stop reading. The newspaper was shaking between her trembling hands, making it too difficult to continue. She gripped the edges tightly as she peered over at Draco, who was examining her carefully, no doubt having watched her every reaction.

Her breathing grew shallow, and she clamped her eyes shut. She didn't know what to feel first. She supposed she should be concerned that someone had been trying to attack her, but that was nothing new — since the age of thirteen, she had become rather accustomed to people targeting her because of her blood status. There was a slim part of her that felt some satisfaction in learning why he had left so suddenly, but that was quickly overshadowed by the fact that, most of all, she felt betrayed.

She clenched her eyes even tighter and crumpled the paper in her fist. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Harry tried to justify his actions first. "We didn't -"

"You saw me, Harry!" she cried, opening her eyes just so she could glare at him; he scooted away from her, all too familiar with how angry she could get. "You saw how distraught I was!"

"I know, but we needed to keep you safe."

"Is that the real reason you offered to have me move in? To keep me _safe_?"

"We thought it was the best decision."

Hermione turned away from him. She couldn't even look at her best friend. At this point, everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was craning their necks to get a glimpse of the squabble, but Hermione powered on. "And _you!_ " she snarled at Draco. "You left me completely blindsided and _heartbroken_!" She shut her eyes again, this time fighting to prevent the tears from streaking down her cheeks.

"You think I was going to risk them hurting you?!"

Hermione scoffed. "Well, congratulations. Instead of them hurting me, you did it yourself."

It was too much take in all at once, and she couldn't be near them as she tried to process it. She pushed her way through the silent crowd of patrons and marched out the door, leaving Draco safely behind her. The cool evening air greeted her as she stormed down the cobbled path away from the Leaky Cauldron until she found a small deserted alleyway. She travelled halfway down it and then reached for her wand.

" _Cave inimicum_ ," she mumbled as she waved it upward, her hands still trembling with outrage. " _Muffliato."_

She tucked her wand away, now assured that she had at least a decent amount of privacy, and let out a scream. A flock of birds from on top the building scattered at the disturbance and fluttered into the darkening sky. Her voice echoed down the brick-building lined path as she continued to let out all the frustration that had accumulated over the past two years.

How _dare_ he not tell her! Either one of them for that matter! She had the right to know when her well-being was in danger! Had she not proven that she was very capable of handling herself? Surely she could have been of assistance instead of them settling on Draco running and hiding hundreds of miles away from her! In the back of her mind, she knew they were only doing what they thought was right, but that hardly made her feel any better.

She felt like kicking something, but a brick wall didn't seem like a good idea. She conjured a stack of plates to hurl at it instead. Once the stack was gone, her back slid down the plane of the building, and she settled into a lump on the ground and just began to sob.

She knew coming was a bad idea! She should have just stuck with her original plan. The wounds were as easy to tear open as she had feared. For the past two years, she had forced herself not to think about him. Yet despite how upset she was and continued to be, having him in front of her, even for just a few minutes, had brought all the old emotions back to the surface in a tsunami of tears.

There was the sound of footsteps from beyond her shield and they stopped right before the barrier. She lifted her head up and wiped away the tears clouding her vision.

"Fifty Galleons says that's you, Hermione!" Draco shouted. His gaze searched down the alley, but he remained unable to spot her due to the charm.

She scoffed. He probably thought he could call her by her first name again. She waited for him to pass, but he didn't budge.

"I can tell there's a protective charm, and seeing as which I can't hear you, I can only assume you used _Muffliato_. And since only around five wizards in the world know that charm, and I know it's not Snape or Potter back there, and I'm gonna safely assume you're not Weasley, which leaves just you and me!"

Still, neither one of them moved.

"I can wait here all night if that's what you want!" he bellowed down the alley. "I waited two years, what's a few hours more?"

Hermione picked up one of the shards of broken plate to chuck it in his direction. She purposefully missed him, but it sent enough of a message.

Draco just laughed at it. "Ah, yes. You certainly haven't changed."

They stood in silence for a handful of rapid heartbeats until Draco started pacing back and forth. He only stopped to hurl a few misguided attempts to penetrate her charms, but it was to no avail. Giving up on that method, he stood firmly just beyond its barriers and shouted out to her.

"Okay, listen up in there!" he cried. "I have no means of knowing whether or not you're actually paying attention, but knowing you - and I believe I still know you pretty damn well - you're undoubtedly curious to know the truth, so here it goes."

Hermione huffed, but he wasn't exactly wrong. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she needed to know more. But only so she could get the answers she deserved!

Draco reached into his pocket and retrieved his wand once more, but this time, he merely played with it, letting the hawthorn wood spin between the palm of his hand as he resumed his pacing. "It all started around a month before I left. I got a letter from a postal owl that criticized me for being a pure-blood with a Muggle-born. I just ignored it. Wasn't the first time I'd received anonymous hate mail, won't be the last. But a week later, another arrived, saying that if I didn't end my relations with you, they'd hurt you. Again, I didn't do anything about it. I'm not naive enough to believe there aren't people out there who want to hurt me, but I just assumed it wasn't of any real value. Besides, I'd like to see someone try to defeat you in combat. You'd kick my arse any day."

At least he acknowledged _that_. Hermione turned away from him as he continued to speak.

"But the letters didn't stop and their content kept escalating, so I brought them to Potter's attention. It wasn't until three days before I left that we actually became concerned." His wand froze between his hands. "The note said it was my final warning, and attached to it were several pieces of your hair." Draco's eyes turned dark at the memory. "They claimed they had broken into our flat the night before and tugged them right out of your scalp without either of us even waking."

Hermione back straightened. She was definitely listening now.

"At first, I didn't want to believe them. Told myself they were just bluffing. But the hair was undeniably yours - it is quite distinctive, even in small portions - and they… they perfectly described our bedroom."

Hermione turned back around to face him, and for the first time all evening, his smug demeanor had faded. He no longer looked as confident and self-assured as he had when she walked into the Leaky Cauldron. Instead, he just looked… defeated.

He cleared his throat, disguising the hint of cracking in his voice, and pressed on. "Anyway, I told Potter about it, and we came up with the plan as fast as possible. I was in favor of blasting down every damn door in England until we found the culprit, but apparently that's not up to the Auror Code of Ethics or something. We considered doing a Fidelius Charm, but both of us knew you'd never agree to not leaving the house, and Potter was understandably hesitant about using it, even if he was our Secret Keeper. So... I left. We almost told you, and trust me, I wanted to, but we couldn't risk it. For all we knew, they had planted a bug or were following one of us. It had to seem like you and I sincerely broke up. It wasn't a perfect plan, after all, it was a plan mostly devised by Potter, but it worked and you're safe."

Hermione was now locked in place, her eyes having not moved off of him once.

Draco sighed and returned his wand to his pocket. "Like I said, I don't know if you're actually listening, but I hope you were. I have no doubt that you're going to disagree with what we did, but I stand by it. Whatever pain I caused you, I get it, because I endured the same heartache. I missed you more every bloody day. Not _once_ in our time apart did I stop loving you, and I can only pray to Merlin that part of you hasn't changed either."

His footsteps echoed down the alley as he made his way towards the main street, while Hermione tried to quickly process everything. She wanted to stay mad at him. _Desperately_. But her resolve was rapidly diminishing, especially after hearing him say those final words. She reached for her wand, removed the wards, and ran after him.

He turned around when he heard her and stopped in his path, allowing Hermione to catch up to him and slapped him straight across the face.

"What the -"

" _That,_ " Hermione screamed, "is for _leaving me_ for _two years_ with no explanation!"

"Fair enough," he grumbled, massaging the point of contact.

"Oh, I'm not nearly done!" Hermione bellowed. "And _this,_ " she said as she shoved him, causing his feet to teeter backwards, "is for being _dimwitted_ enough to not _consult me_ on your plan. Honestly! It's as if you and Harry have learned nothing over the years!"

"But we -"

"I'm still not done!" she cried. "And _this_ is because for some horrible, pitiful, _awful_ reason, part of me never stopped loving you either."

Hermione grabbed both of his cheeks and pulled him so that their lips connected. She had forgotten just how good it felt to kiss him. It was as if the past two years melted away and they were back in their flat, pretending to argue over who was right in their latest debate, even though Draco knew she had won ten minutes prior. She grabbed onto the fabric of his shirt and held the kiss for only a few more seconds, until she tore herself away.

Draco's eyes slowly reopened and he arched an eyebrow at her. "Are you done now?" he said with a smirk.

"Just one more thing." She shoved him again, although with only half the force as before. "And _that_ is for making me give up our old flat because I really doubt we're ever going to find another place with that big of a library and so many windows in such a good location ever again."

Draco bit his lower lip and shook his head at her, before a smile started to creep back across his face. "I'll buy the whole bloody building, I don't care. Whatever you want, it's yours."

He pulled her in tight, and her eyes fluttered closed as his thumb grazed across her cheek. His hot breath passed over her, making her ache for him to kiss her again. Now that she had been reminded of his taste, she never wanted to be without it again.

Fortunately, he only lingered for a moment before he leaned down and kissed her once more. Her whole body warmed as they reconnected, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, refusing to give him the opportunity to pull away. She had no need to worry, however. His fingers dug into her hair, ensuring that she too didn't break from the kiss.

There was something so familiar about his kiss, so warm and welcoming after so long apart, yet it still felt exciting and new. In some ways, it was like their first kiss all over again, only without all the hesitation and awkwardness. This time, there was just a desperate need to be with the other person.

Draco drew Hermione closer, and the next moment, her back was pressed up against the brick wall. "Dear Merlin, I missed you," he groaned as he pulled away, only so he could leave a bite on the edge of her neck.

Hermione's mouth gaped open, and Draco tugged at the collar of her blouse, exposing part of her skin. "You are never allowed to make any decisions without me ever again," she retorted as he left a series of kisses along her shoulder.

"I will bother you with literally every decision I have to make." He lifted his head up to kiss her on the lips again, but Hermione held him back. He knitted his eyebrows at her.

"I'm serious," she said, making sure that he truly understood. If they were going to dive back into this, she needed to know that nothing even remotely similar to this would ever happen again.

"As am I," he assured her. "I've done two years without you, and I'm not risking one more second of our future." He took a step back away from her but intertwined their fingers in the process. "And to prove it, consider this mutual decision number one: Where shall we go now? Because unless you provide a location to continue this little reunion, I'm going to have you naked right here in this alleyway."

Hermione paused. She hadn't thought that far in advance yet. Her mind had been too busy trying to process what had happened in the past to even consider ten minutes into the future.

Draco seemed to pull back when Hermione didn't immediately respond. "Of course, that's also your decision, because if you don't want to -"

"No!" Hermione immediately cut him off, and Draco looked crestfallen. "I mean, no, as in yes." He shook his head, clearly confused. She sighed and laughed. "I mean, _yes_ , I want to."

She tightened her grip around his fingers, and he gave her a gentle nod of approval. Within seconds, they had Apparated and were in her flat.

The lights were still out in their place, so that meant Harry hadn't made it home yet. Where he was, Hermione couldn't care less. Perhaps he was working on those three pints that had barely been touched, or maybe he was just taking a stroll along Diagon Alley. Didn't matter. As long as he wasn't there.

Draco didn't wait too long to have her pinned up to a wall again. Her back slammed against it, and the paintings rattled from their position, startling one of the portraits.

"Who is causing such a ruckus!" the portrait shouted. "I can hardly see who is there!"

Hermione stifled a laugh, as did Draco. "You didn't warn me we'd have company," he said with a smirk.

"My bedroom is devoid of portraits."

"Perhaps, but that's so far away."

He captured her lips in another kiss, unable to resist any longer. Apparently he had already surpassed his limits for waiting. His fingers toyed with the buttons of her blouse, but after only a few seconds of attempt, he gave up and ripped it open.

"Hey!" Hermione cried as the buttons bounced down the wooden floorboards. "I happened to like that top!"

Draco didn't seem the least bit concerned. He returned to her neck, starting at the bottom and kissing his way upwards. "I'll buy you - twenty - more. Literally, whatever - you want."

He began to unbutton his own shirt, but Hermione pushed his hands aside and forced it apart. The white buttons from his shirt fell onto the floor and mixed with hers. "How do you like that, huh?"

Draco smirked. "I actually find it quite hot."

Hermione shoved him. "You haven't changed."

His smirk only grew. "It's like I never even left."

Draco pushed her back against the wall and rocked his hips into her. She let out a short gasp when she felt his hardness against her middle. She hadn't been with anyone since Draco had left, but she recognized the familiar yearning that swept through her system. Her body grew sensitive and the more he pressed himself against her, the more she ached for him to just take her into the bedroom.

"Seriously! Can't you two find somewhere else!" the portrait shouted.

It seemed as if Hermione wasn't alone in that regard. She gently pushed Draco back and bit down on her bottom lip. Her eyes flickered in the direction of her bedroom, and a mischievous grin etched across his features.

Hermione let out a squeal as Draco hoisted her up, forcing her to wrap her legs around his waist as he led her towards her room. She squeezed her thighs around him tightly ensuring that she wouldn't fall to the ground while Draco navigated her arms through the blouse's sleeves. They had nearly reached her door when he managed to unhook her bra and throw it down the corridor.

By this point, the sun had long since set, and the late evening moon illuminated her bedroom. It wasn't much - she had forced herself to get rid of anything that reminded her too much of her relationship with Draco - but he didn't even seem to notice. He dropped her onto the bed and stared down at her, pure satisfaction dawning on his face. He pulled his shirt off slowly, taking his arms out one at a time, and then discarded the destroyed shirt on the floor. His undershirt soon followed and Hermione couldn't help but bite her lip again at the sight of his bare chest. Whatever he had done while he had been in Germany, she was no longer going to complain about.

"I dreamed about this every single day I was gone," he said in a low voice as he unbuckled his belt. The dragon-leather slipped through the metal loop, and he tugged it free from his trousers.

"You dreamed of shagging me?"

Draco let out a short laugh. "Not always shagging, though shagging was often involved." He undid the zipper and let his trousers fall to the floor. "I dreamed of being back with you, whether that included sipping our morning coffee while reading the paper or divesting you to prove that you're still mine regardless of whatever people tried to stop us."

His hands pressed against her chest and trickled downwards, pausing as they reached her breasts. Hermione released a wanton mewl as he gave them both a short caress, teasing her nipples with the slightest of touch, but he soon continued on his journey south. He stopped when he reached her jeans and he unfastened the button at an agonizingly slow rate. He left a single kiss just above the waistband of her knickers, right before he hooked his thumb under the remaining layers of clothing, bringing them down until she laid there naked.

Hermione moved to the edge of the bed and framed his legs with her own. He peered down at her and based on the glint in his eye, she could tell that he was very much trying to hold himself back. A few strands of blonde hair fell into his eyes and he pushed it away, letting nothing intrude his vision of her. Her eyes remained locked with his as her fingers grazed up his thigh, spurring a hiss out of him as they motioned over the fabric, nearly reaching his cock, but then diverting to the waistband. He sucked in a short, desperate gasp as she lowered his pants and his hard shaft sprung free.

She wrapped her fingers around him, and his head tipped back with a sharp intake of air. His cock pulsated under her touch, her hand traveling up and down his length, eliciting a series of low groans from above. Keeping one hand on his shaft, she brushed her lips against his tip and enveloped him inside her wet mouth. His hands grasped for her hair and gripped it tightly as he guided her through the movements, at times pushing her in farther than she anticipated, but never beyond her limits. Her tongue ran from the base to the tip, and Draco clamped his eyes shut, pulling his hand away so he could bite down on his knuckle.

" _Fuck_ ," he moaned. "You can't keep doing that, or I'm not going to last."

He grabbed a fist full of her hair and pulled her off of him, shoving her back onto the bed. He bent down and brought her into a kiss, his tongue not shying away from the salty taste his precum had left behind. She had been so distracted by his kiss that she hadn't noticed his fingers dipping down below, surprising her when he entered her folds. The sudden intrusion caused her to arch off the mattress, feeling the impact of the sensation all the way in the curl of her toes.

She was already plenty wet, but his two fingers still felt as though they were filling her to capacity. Her walls throbbed around him as he pushed in deeper, fighting to loosen her up. "Merlin's beard, woman," he said. "Did you do nothing to yourself while I was gone?"

He hooked his finger, and Hermione let out a cry. "Of course I did!" she said between heavy breaths. "But you know I prefer when -"

She didn't need to finish the sentence. His thumb grazed against her clit and she had to claw her fingers into the sheets to prevent herself from flailing off the bed.

When Hermione was able to open her eyes again, Draco appeared all too pleased with himself. "Ah, yes. Don't worry. I didn't forget." He maintained the steady pressure on her nub and sent her body into a frenzy. Hermione had only been able to get so much satisfaction from their own personal doing, and he had a way of pushing her buttons - _quite literally_ \- that no one else could.

"I can already anticipate how tight you're going to be for me." He leaned in to whisper in her ear. "By the time we're through, I can assure you that you are going to be _very_ sore."

His words sent a warm wave through her body and she couldn't resist any longer. "Draco, now," she begged from beneath him.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "My, my. Isn't someone a bit overeager?"

" _Please_ ," she whimpered. Her whole body was aching and positively longing for more. "I can't wait. I need you."

His lips curled into a smirk. "If you insist. After all, I did promise to include you in _all_ decisions."

In one languid move, his cock entered her. It was so much more than she had anticipated. She was no stranger to this connection, but there was no denying that it was a tighter fit than the last time they had been together. He pushed in farther, and she couldn't hold back the cry that escaped her lips when he sheathed himself fully.

"Easy now, Princess." He pulled out briefly and dove back inside, gradually working himself in. "Just take it. _Nice_ and _slow_." Draco seemed to savor every inch as he tortuously built a steady rhythm that had her body convulsing. With each new motion, it slowly became more comfortable, her body growing more accustomed to his size and the tightness that contained it.

Although it hadn't been very long, Hermione was already on the edge. Her mouth was stuck in a constant gape, little whimpers escaping her lips with every thrust. She wasn't sure how much more she could endure, craving both of their imminent release. He spread her thighs farther apart, and Hermione opted to wrap them around his torso, driving him even deeper inside. Her fingers dipped down to aid in her frantic mission, but Draco promptly removed them.

"No," he commanded, his eyes turning stern as he impaled her yet again. "Tonight, I am the only one getting you off."

He gripped both of her wrists with one hand and forced them above her head, keeping them pinned against the covers and far away from where they had just been. His spare hand soon replace her own, returning to the sensitive spot. It only took a few more forceful thrusts and a flick of his thumb for her to feel that tell-tale coil in her stomach and the warm heat dispersing from within her inner core. She became completely undone, her body writhing underneath him, contained to some degree by the confined position of her arms.

Draco rode out her climax, but he couldn't sustain himself much longer. He freed her wrists and took hold of the sheets as he pushed himself as deep as possible and released himself within her. She felt herself contract around him, soaking in the final moments of their reunion, until he was completely spent and he withdrew himself.

He leaned in and barely brushed his lips against hers before he fell onto the bed beside her. Hermione curled her body around his, resting her head against his chest. For the first time in two years, Hermione felt perfectly content with her life. She was back in her favorite position with her favorite man, and everything was back to how it was supposed to be.

She nuzzled herself closer and Draco pushed back a loose curl. He paused for a moment, and smelled it. "You got a new shampoo," he said, taking in another sniff. "I _knew_ you did something with your hair."

Hermione couldn't help but smile. Yes, everything was more certainly how it was supposed to be.

They silently laid there in bed for Merlin knows how long, neither one finding any reason to move or even talk. Just being there with him was enough. But after what felt like ages, she slowly picked her head up.

"Do me a favour?"

Draco didn't open his eyes, but he nodded his acknowledgment.

"Don't ever tell me who it was. I'd rather not know."

"You didn't get that far in the article?"

"I was a bit too preoccupied by the first few paragraphs."

Draco paused and then hummed in understanding. "If that's what you want, consider it done."

She returned her head to his chest, perfectly content to just fall asleep. However, that only lasted a few seconds before there was a rough pounding on her door.

"Glad you two made up, but I could do without seeing Hermione's bra just laying around in the corridor!" Harry shouted.

Hermione and Draco both open their eyes and laughed at one another.

"Are these… _buttons_? C'mon guys! This was my place first!"

Draco turned to Hermione and smirked. "First thing tomorrow, you're moving out. We've lived apart far too long, and I'm not wasting a single second more."

She lifted her head up just enough to kiss him on the cheek. "Only if we pick a place in London. You're not leaving this city again for a very long time."


End file.
